Noter dame lacrosse schedule. Notre Dame Men’s Lacrosse 2023 Schedule: A Challenging Journey to NCAA Tournament Success

What does Notre Dame’s 2023 men’s lacrosse schedule look like. How does it compare to other top programs. Why is this schedule crucial for the Fighting Irish’s NCAA tournament aspirations.

Notre Dame’s 2023 Men’s Lacrosse Schedule: An Overview

The University of Notre Dame has unveiled its highly anticipated 2023 men’s lacrosse schedule, promising an exhilarating season for fans and players alike. The Fighting Irish, ranked #5 in the preseason Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, face a formidable lineup of opponents across a twelve-game stretch from mid-February through early May. This schedule is widely regarded as one of the most challenging in the country, featuring matchups against the top-ranked teams in collegiate lacrosse.

Key Matchups and Dates

• February 15th – Marquette (HOME)
• February 19th – Cleveland State (HOME)
• February 25th – Georgetown (AWAY)
• March 4th – Maryland (AWAY)
• March 11th – Ohio State (HOME)
• March 18th – Michigan (AWAY)
• March 25th – Virginia (HOME)
• April 1st – Syracuse (AWAY)
• April 8th – Duke (HOME)
• April 22nd – North Carolina (HOME)
• April 30th – Virginia (AWAY)
• May 6th – North Carolina (AWAY)

Early Season Challenges: Georgetown and Maryland

The Fighting Irish face two of their toughest challenges early in the season, with away games against Georgetown and Maryland in their third and fourth matchups. These contests are crucial for Notre Dame, as they seek to avenge early-season losses from the previous year. How will these early tests shape the team’s momentum for the rest of the season?

The importance of these games cannot be overstated. A 2-0 record against Georgetown and Maryland would provide a tremendous boost to Notre Dame’s season, while a 1-1 split would still be considered a positive outcome. However, an 0-2 start against these top-ranked opponents could potentially spell trouble for the Fighting Irish’s NCAA tournament aspirations.

ACC Conference Play: A Proving Ground for Notre Dame

The final six games of Notre Dame’s schedule consist entirely of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) matchups. This stretch includes two games against preseason #1 Virginia, as well as contests against Syracuse, Duke, and North Carolina. With the ACC looking to reassert its dominance after only sending one team to the NCAA tournament last year, these games are expected to be particularly intense and competitive.

How does the ACC portion of the schedule impact Notre Dame’s chances of making a deep run in the NCAA tournament? The conference games provide valuable opportunities for quality wins, which are crucial for tournament seeding and selection. Strong performances against highly-ranked ACC opponents could significantly bolster Notre Dame’s resume come tournament time.

Home Field Advantage: Arlotta Stadium and the Loftus Center

Notre Dame’s 2023 schedule features an equal split of six home games and six away games. The first two home matchups against Marquette and Cleveland State are likely to be played indoors at the Loftus Center, given the typically harsh February weather in South Bend. These early home games provide an excellent opportunity for the Fighting Irish to establish their rotations and build confidence before facing tougher opponents on the road.

How does playing at home benefit Notre Dame’s performance? The familiar surroundings and supportive crowd at Arlotta Stadium can provide a significant boost to the team’s morale and energy levels. Key home games against Virginia, Duke, and North Carolina later in the season could prove pivotal in determining Notre Dame’s final standing in the ACC and their NCAA tournament seeding.

Strength of Schedule: A Double-Edged Sword

Notre Dame’s 2023 schedule is undoubtedly one of the most challenging in Division I men’s lacrosse. While this presents an opportunity to prove themselves against top-tier competition, it also leaves little room for error. The Fighting Irish must capitalize on winnable games and secure quality victories against highly-ranked opponents to bolster their NCAA tournament resume.

How does Notre Dame’s strength of schedule compare to other top programs? Many lacrosse analysts consider the Fighting Irish’s 2023 lineup to be among the most difficult in the nation. Facing off against the preseason #1, #2, and #3 ranked teams (Virginia, Maryland, and Georgetown, respectively) demonstrates the caliber of competition Notre Dame will face throughout the season.

Building Momentum: The Importance of Early-Season Success

The first two games of the season against Marquette and Cleveland State provide Notre Dame with an opportunity to fine-tune their lineup and build confidence before facing tougher opponents. These early matchups will be crucial for determining key positions, including the third attackman (with Jake Taylor expected to miss the first half of the season) and the third close defenseman to join the established duo of Fake and Conlin.

How can early-season success impact Notre Dame’s performance in later, more challenging games? A strong start to the season can help the Fighting Irish establish a winning mentality and build momentum heading into their tougher matchups. Additionally, these early games provide valuable playing time for less experienced players, potentially uncovering new talents that could contribute significantly later in the season.

NCAA Tournament Implications: Every Game Counts

Notre Dame’s challenging schedule leaves little room for error when it comes to NCAA tournament selection. The Fighting Irish’s 8-4 finish last season, despite winning their final six games, highlights the importance of quality wins throughout the entire schedule. The tournament committee places a high value on victories against top-ranked opponents, making every game crucial for Notre Dame’s postseason aspirations.

Which games on Notre Dame’s schedule could have the biggest impact on their NCAA tournament chances? While every game is important, matchups against Virginia (twice), Duke, Maryland, and Georgetown stand out as particularly significant. Strong performances in these games could dramatically improve Notre Dame’s tournament seeding and potentially secure a home game in the early rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Analyzing Notre Dame’s Schedule Gaps and Potential Improvements

While Notre Dame’s 2023 schedule is undoubtedly challenging, some lacrosse analysts have noted potential areas for improvement. One suggestion is the inclusion of games against Ivy League teams, which could have expanded the schedule to fourteen total games and provided opportunities to prove Notre Dame’s strength against teams that made the NCAA tournament last year.

How might the addition of Ivy League opponents have benefited Notre Dame’s schedule? Games against top Ivy League programs could have provided additional opportunities for quality wins and helped strengthen Notre Dame’s case for NCAA tournament selection. Additionally, facing a diverse range of opponents could have better prepared the Fighting Irish for the various playing styles they may encounter in the postseason.

Potential Schedule Adjustments

In an ideal scenario, some analysts suggest that the early portion of Notre Dame’s schedule could have been restructured to provide a more gradual build-up to their toughest opponents. A proposed order for games three through six could have been:

1. Michigan
2. Maryland
3. Ohio State
4. Georgetown

This arrangement would have allowed Notre Dame to face a steadily improving Michigan squad before taking on powerhouses Maryland and Georgetown, potentially providing a more balanced progression in terms of opponent difficulty.

The Road Ahead: Preparing for a Challenging Season

As Notre Dame prepares for their 2023 lacrosse season, the team faces a daunting but exciting challenge. The Fighting Irish will need to leverage their home-field advantage, capitalize on early-season opportunities to solidify their lineup, and maintain focus throughout their grueling ACC schedule to achieve their goals of making a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

How can Notre Dame best prepare for the challenges that lie ahead? Key factors for success will likely include:

• Developing depth across all positions to withstand the rigors of a tough schedule
• Focusing on consistent performance in both home and away games
• Emphasizing the importance of securing quality wins against top-ranked opponents
• Maintaining physical and mental preparation throughout the long season
• Adapting game strategies to exploit the weaknesses of each unique opponent

As the 2023 season approaches, all eyes will be on the Fighting Irish as they navigate one of the most challenging schedules in college lacrosse. With a mix of tough opponents, crucial conference matchups, and opportunities for statement wins, Notre Dame’s journey through this gauntlet of games promises to be an exhilarating ride for players, coaches, and fans alike.

Will Notre Dame’s ambitious schedule prove to be the perfect preparation for a deep NCAA tournament run, or will the challenges prove too great for the Fighting Irish? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: the 2023 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting and competitive in recent memory.

Notre Dame releases its 2023 Men’s Lacrosse Schedule

On Tuesday, January 25th, across both Instagram and Twitter, Notre Dame released their 2023 men’s lacrosse schedule. To no one’s surprise, as it always does, it contains a gauntlet of opponents across a twelve-game stretch from mid-February through early May. By all standards, it is one of the toughest schedules in the country as Notre Dame faces off against the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll’s Preseason #1, #2, and #3 ranked teams in Virginia (twice), Maryland, and Georgetown. The Fighting Irish start the season off ranked #5 (a little low in my opinion, but we can get into that when we do our season preview) as they look to make a deep run in this year’s NCAA tourney.

Let’s take a look at how the schedule lays out (TV/ESPN coverage will come out soon):

February 15th – Marquette (HOME)

February 19th – Cleveland State (HOME)

February 25th – Georgetown (AWAY)

March 4th – Maryland (AWAY)

March 11th – Ohio State (HOME)

March 18th – Michigan (AWAY)

March 25th – Virginia (HOME)

April 1st – Syracuse (AWAY)

April 8th – Duke (HOME)

April 22nd – North Carolina (HOME)

April 30th – Virginia (AWAY)

May 6th – North Carolina (AWAY)

Here is a more in depth look at the schedule:

We are looking at six home games and six away games. The first two matchups against Marquette and Cleveland State should allow the Irish to get their feet under them at home, giving them the opportunity to figure out some of their main rotations. Both games should be indoors in the Loftus Center as we all know what the weather in South Bend in February is like (yeah, it’s gross).

There is not a lot of time before the Irish face two of their toughest challenges in games three and four heading to Georgetown and then to Maryland. Must watch television will be those two as the Irish look to revenge two of their early season losses last year. Following that we have Ohio State at home and Michigan on the road, and while the Buckeyes have done well against the Irish the last couple of years, this will be a good opportunity to take one back. Michigan, a steadily improving squad since becoming a D1 team in the Big Ten not too long ago, will get the Irish in Ann Arbor the day after St. Patrick’s Day.

The final six games of the season will be the ACC portion of the schedule as we take on preseason #1 Virginia at home at Arlotta, then travel to the Dome to take on the Cuse and their talented freshmen. We follow that up with Duke at home, with the Blue Devils also looking to come back from not making the tourney in 2022. We then host North Carolina at Arlotta and finish the season in games eleven and twelve on the road against Virginia and then again against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Look for the ACC (as a conference) to want to prove itself this year after only getting in one team into the tourney last year (Virginia). So you can bet that the matchups are going to be especially intense over the last six games of the season for the Irish.

My general thoughts:

We can get more into this when we do our season preview, but wish ND had scheduled maybe one or two Ivy League teams during the season. Would have been good to add two more games to the schedule to make fourteen total and it would have been a nice chance for ND to show that they are better than some of the Ivy League teams who made it into the tourney last year.

There is not a lot of room for mistakes with this schedule, and as our 8-4 finish last year showed (with six straight wins to end the season), the tourney committee, unless they change their way of thinking, is going to really value quality wins at every turn. So the Irish will have to win the games they should and also win games in their top matchups – Virginia (twice), Duke, Maryland and Georgetown. Early season victories over Maryland and Georgetown could do wonders for the Irish as we cannot count on teams like Syracuse and North Carolina to be considered tough, quality wins.

Really cannot stress enough how important those Georgetown and Maryland games are. 2-0 is amazing, 1-1 is good and 0-2 could spell trouble as we are losing the chance for those aforementioned quality victories. And that is why the Marquette and Cleveland State games will be so key to help the Irish figure out who their third attackman will be (with Jake Taylor expected to miss the first half of the season), who their third close defensemen will be (joining Fake and Conlin) and how they want to run their middie lines (always interesting to see who is running across those top three lines). In an ideal world the schedule would have seen games three through six go in this order: Michigan, Maryland, Ohio State, Georgetown.

While Duke is primed to get back into the tourney this year, it will be interesting to see what North Carolina and Syracuse do. Both have revamped rosters and will be looking to prove themselves in the ACC following down years. Can these two teams challenge and cause some havoc for the Irish?

Last and final thought:

Notre Dame has too talent and too much to prove after what happened last year, and while the schedule is daunting, I fully expect this team to play really well and with an increased intensity and internal fire to prove themselves. Come May 6th in Chapel Hill, the Irish won’t be playing their final game to see if they are in the tourney, they will be playing to solidify their spot as one of the top seeds in May and gunning for Memorial Day weekend.

Coming up next: Irish season preview

NCAA Lacrosse Championship 2023: Duke vs. Notre Dame Schedule, Preview | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Larry French/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

The 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship is set, and it is a battle between familiar foes.

No. 1 Duke will face No. 3 Notre Dame in an all-ACC matchup for glory in Philadelphia.

The Fighting Irish handed Duke a 17-12 loss on April 8 and this will be the third time these teams will meet for a national title.

Both teams needed overtime to get to this point.

Penn State played the Blue Devils tight in the first game, but Garrett Leadmon called game in the extra quarter.

NCAA Lacrosse @NCAALAX

LEADMON!!!! DUKE WINS!!<br><br>📺 ESPN2<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NCAAMLAX?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NCAAMLAX</a> x <a href=”https://twitter.com/DukeMLAX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@DukeMLAX</a> <a href=”https://t.co/5fsqOyf95B”>pic.twitter.com/5fsqOyf95B</a>

The goal did not come without controversy, as it appears that Leadmon had his foot in the crease when he scored the goal. However, the play was non-reviewable, so the Blue Devils are championship-bound.

Duke Men’s Lacrosse @DukeMLAX

NATTY HERE WE COME‼️ <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoDuke?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#GoDuke</a> x <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ch5SE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Ch5SE</a> <a href=”https://t.co/KCEBt618iN”>pic.twitter.com/KCEBt618iN</a>

Their opponent, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, are no pushover. They defeated the only team to beat them all season, No. 2 Virginia, and had to complete a late comeback to do it.

It was Brian Tevlin who scored this golden goal, and the Yale transfer solidified his legacy in South Bend.

NCAA Lacrosse @NCAALAX

THE IRISH ARE GOING TO THE NATTY<br><br>📺 ESPN2<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NCAAMLAX?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NCAAMLAX</a> x <a href=”https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NDlacrosse</a> <a href=”https://t. co/IBjgwY9qFz”>pic.twitter.com/IBjgwY9qFz</a>

Notre Dame Lacrosse @NDlacrosse

SEE YA ON MONDAY<br><br>IRISH WIN 13-12 IN OVERTIME<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href=”https://t.co/uI2CQvMeGG”>pic.twitter.com/uI2CQvMeGG</a>

Duke owns a 16-13 advantage in the overall series between the two teams.

Here is everything you need to know about the 2023 National Championship Game.

Where: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When: Monday at 1 p.m. ET

Watch: ESPN

Men’s Final Four Scores

(1) Duke def. (5) Penn State 16-15

(3) Notre Dame def. (2) Virginia 13-12

Duke’s Road to the Championship Game

The Blue Devils hovered around the top ranking for much of the season, eventually earning the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Before that, a 13-2 regular season and an ACC Championship showcase just how dominant this unit can be.

That doesn’t mean that Duke was routing every team on its schedule, actually it’s far from it. The Blue Devils took two games in overtime during with regular season, with numerous one, two and three-goal margins of victory.

In the tournament, the ride hasn’t been extremely smooth. They were nearly upset in the opening round by the Delaware Blue Hens, but a second half surge gave them a 12-11 victory. A balanced scoring attack brought them to victory over Big Ten Champion Michigan, and then the controversial overtime heroics over Penn State solidified a spot in the National Championship Game.

Duke is outscoring opponents 273-194 this season and average 45.6 shots per game. Brennan O’Neill and Dyson Williams carry a heavy load in the scoring department, contributing 54 and 59 goals respectively. The Blue Devils have the fifth-ranked scoring offense nationally.

Duke has won three national championships in program history, with the most recent coming in 2014. They were finalists in 2018 and reached the Final Four in 2021.

Notre Dame’s Road to the Championship Game

A 10-2 regular season saw the Fighting Irish fall to the Cavaliers twice but earn several key victories and the No.3 overall seed. When they were victorious, they tended to win big, with only one regular season game requiring extra time.

They cruised to a 20-7 victory over ASUN Champion Utah, and held off Johns Hopkins 12-9 in the quarterfinal. This advanced Notre Dame to it’s third contest against Virginia, where they proved that the third time is the charm.

Chris Kavanagh carried a large amount of the scoring load for the offense, and his brother Pat led the team in points. They had the third-ranked scoring offense and fifth-ranked scoring defense in the country.

The Fighting Irish are a two-time finalist in the national title game and are searching for the first championship in program history.

Prediction: Notre Dame def. Duke 14-13

Cooper fondly remembers the Islanders arena

Author
Dan Rosen

/ NHL. com Senior Writer

John Cooper made his first appearance at the Nassau Coliseum in the 1985 playoffs. Then he was 17 years old.

He is currently coaching the Tampa Bay Lightning, and on Thursday (Friday, 03:00 AM ET), his team will play their third semi-final game against the New York Islanders on the road. The score in the series up to four victories is equal – 1-1.

Cooper does not remember all the details of that match very well, but one moment remained in his memory.

“I was there with my mom,” Cooper said on Wednesday. “There was a lottery for the fans, and mom won five dollars. It was fun. If she were with us now, she would tell how it was.”

Now Cooper is 53 years old. The other day he visited Hofstra University, from which he graduated in 1989. He also played lacrosse there. The university is across the street from the Nassau Coliseum, and as a student, Cooper went to the Islanders games several times, where his friends played: forwards Brad Lauer, Derek King, Mick Vukota, defensemen Jeff Finley and Joe Rickey. With Lauer, Cooper played on the Notre Dame College team in Saskatchewan.

The Islanders are in their last season at the Coliseum. From the next championship, the team’s home stadium will be the UBS Arena in Elmont. 12,978 tickets were sold for Thursday’s match.

[Lightning-Islanders Series Latest]

“In those years, I didn’t even think I’d be an NHL coach, let alone about how that I will come here in this capacity for the playoff game, “said Cooper. “It’s a very pleasant atmosphere. I really like it. It will be very interesting.”

Cooper traveled with the Lightning to the Nassau Coliseum for regular season games. And under his leadership, Tampa also met the Islanders twice in the playoffs (2016, 2020), but those fights took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and at the Rogers Place arena in Edmonton.